Spotlight

Moving house has got to be one of the most stressful things that we put ourselves through.† We decided at Christmas that we were definitely moving out of the property in Al Sufouh.† Initially I wanted to move to Umm Sequim/Al Manara area however an extensive and exhausting search of the area showed no suitable properties were available at our budget. Time was getting on and we decided to move our search to the Lakes area. Sadly half the properties there, apart from the new Lakes extension Ghadeer, have not been well maintained and even though the properties are only 7 years old they appear and felt older.† At this point I got into the car with Nurse Jill and did a recce around Al Barsha.† We found a super villa which we fell in love with, I only met one Agent during our entire search for a property and that was Navin from Rocky Real Estate.

After a bit of negotiating with Navin, all deposits were paid and cheques were issued, we had one week to move into our new Villa.†† Excited?† yeah course I was.† After 5 years of living in reasonable properties I was at last getting exactly what I wanted.† We had a lovely villa in Jafflya which we were forced out of by at greedy landlord some 5 years ago, the year proir to the Rent Committee setting itself up so we had no recourse with the Landlord.

I am pretty organised and feel it pays to be extra organised when moving house. I always pack up the kitchen and move it in advance, it's one of the biggest jobs when† moving and if you have the option to be able to do this then you must.† I was lucky as I had Queen Bee and Lady W to help me do this on the Wednesday morning.

I started sorting through cupboards and wardrobes about a month before the move, clearing out the old stuff, and packing what we were planning on taking.† We used local removals Mexico Movers who we and many have our friends have used in the past.†† Eventually moving day arrived and we were out of Al Sufouh and heading to Al Barsha before lunch.†† By 9 pm we were nearly done and sat down to watch The Apprentice before an early night. Friday was spent finishing off the unpacking, by Saturday afternoon it was all done and we had a quick swim in the communal pool.

Moving for us has been the best decision we ever made, it's one people often put off but don't, if you see something you like and it's in budget then go for it!!

I want to thank Rocky Real Estate and Navin, as well as everyone who has helped us in the last couple of weeks move into our new home, especially @etisalatUAE who managed to get us connected in less than 24 hours!